


Deep in the Water

by doukeshiA



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Ambiguous/Open Ending, M/M, Mind Manipulation, merman au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-04
Updated: 2018-03-04
Packaged: 2019-03-27 02:02:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13870749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doukeshiA/pseuds/doukeshiA
Summary: [DRV3 Spoilers]Adventurer Rantaro Amami gets lost in a forest during an expedition. While searching for a place to spend the night, he finds much more than he asked for.





	Deep in the Water

**Author's Note:**

> We’re moving away from Shinguji’s kinky adventures a little bit to write something new, lol. I'm obsessed with fantasy AUs, so I wanted to try my hand in writing one.
> 
> Please let me know what you think <3

As an adventurer, it was more than usual for Amami to get lost while exploring new places. Getting lost, he believed, allowed one to see things he might have never come across had he stayed on path, so he couldn’t see it as a bad thing.

It was late afternoon; The sun was beginning to set in the horizon, and though it was impossible to see it from behind the trees, the way the light hit the trees gave an almost dreamy quality to the dense forest. Amami thought it looked better at this time of the day. The nocturnal animals were coming out to start their nightly routine, and he could hear birds in the distance. Despite being lost, Amami was not worried. He knew would find his way back eventually as he always did, so he thought he might as well explore the place and enjoy the view while he still could.

The more he walked, the darker the forest became. The beautiful orange glow of the sunset was quickly taken over and replaced by the darkness of the night, and the branches and leaves from the trees made it impossible for the moon and stars to provide illumination to guide the adventurer’s journey. Due to that, Amami was sadly forced to take his flashlight out of his backpack so he could search for a place to spend the night. There weren’t many wild predators in this particular forest, so any space big enough for his tent was a good place to crash.

He walked, flashlight pointed to the floor so the light wouldn’t scare any animals. The path he had taken was dark and quiet, but slowly Amami began to notice what seemed like glowing lights shining near the trees, flying and glittering above his head. They seemed to be fireflies, but their lights shone in many different colors whereas fireflies only glowed in one color, if he remembered correctly. Curious, he tried to approach one to take a better look, but it flew away the moment he got too close, making him chuckle, “If Gokuhara was here he would definitely know what kind of insects you guys are,” He said, smiling apologetically to some of the nearby lights. “I don’t, though. Sorry.”

As he was about to continue on his chosen path, a quick look to the side revealed him a new one. The glowing insects were gathering, flying all in one direction. Amami frowned, pointing his flashlight to the way the insects were going, and was surprised to find what looked like a much easier path to take than the one he was currently in. The trees seemed to be farther apart, making it easier for him to walk, and perhaps even spacious enough for him to set his tent.

He was already lost anyway, so there was no harm in going another way.

Following the lights, it didn’t take long for him to reach a clearing, and Amami found himself stopping on his tracks, mouth agape, to admire the place. Most of the insects seemed to have gathered here; Their glittering lights were strong enough together to illuminate the entire clearing, and seeing them reflecting on the surface of a big lake made the adventurer feel like he had walked right into a scenario from one of his sister’s fantasy books or a dream. It was like a thousand stars had fallen down to earth, and it made him desperately wish to have a camera to register the moment.

Despite the beauty of the place, Amami forced himself out of his stupor and got to work in order to set up his tent for the night. He briefly considered bathing in the lake first, but ever since he had gotten the news about his colleague Hoshi being attacked by piranhas after accidentally falling into a lake, Amami had been hesitant to dip into unknown waters. Once his tent was set up, though, the hesitancy was not enough to stop him from stepping closer to it, once again enchanted by the way the glowing lights were reflected in the dark surface of the still lake.

With a heavy sigh, Amami finally sat down after many hours of walking. His tiredness had gone unnoticed up until that moment, but being able to finally sit down made the adventurer realize just how tired he actually was. He leaned back into his heavy backpack and smiled softly at the display of lights around the clearing. The peaceful quietness of the forest at night was definitely relaxing after such a long day, and even though the beauty of this place was admirable, he couldn’t stop his eyes from closing...

Until a sound coming from the lake made him open them again, startled. The reflected lights were wavering when Amami stepped closer to analyze the source of the noise, the waves on the surface were clearly visible in the well illuminated clearing. There were no trees around the lake, so it hadn’t been caused by a falling branch. Was it a fish that had leaped out of the water? The lake had been so still before… On his hands and knees, the adventurer moved closer to the lake, frowning...

...And fell back on his ass, once again startled when something came out of the water. “What the fuck...?” He mumbled to himself, looking at the water again.

“What the fuck!” He repeated, his eyes widening at the sight in front of him: There was a person in the water. Most of their face was still inside, but Amami could see curious and very much alive eyes looking at him. “Are you okay?” Amami asked, alarmed, getting up immediately and ready to help. “Can you get out? I can try to get you out!”

The person didn’t move.

“Can you hear me?” Maybe they didn't speak his language, but why wasn’t this person getting out of the water? And how had they gotten inside in the first place?! Amami held out his hand, but the person didn’t take it. Instead, they shook their head. Confused, Amami let his hand fall back to his side. What was going on?

Slowly, they pushed themself out of the water, but it was almost pointless: this person, whoever they were, had some sort of black cloth obscuring the lower half of their face, tied behind their hair. Amami was taken aback, looking at the strange person before him. “...Are you… alright?”

“I apologize for scaring you,” The person finally spoke, their voice muffled by the cloth. “I am fine, please don’t worry.”

Amami blinked. “Huh?”

The surface trembled again, and something resembling a fish tail came out of the water, right behind the strange person. The adventurer was confused for a second, and then he gasped.

“No way! Are you actually a mermaid?” He asked, an evident excitement in his voice. Amami had never believed in such legends, they were nothing more than folklore created to keep children away from the water. He had dismissed the stories about mermaids drowning people as legends, but apparently, he had been wrong. Amami laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

The creature in the water seemed surprised at the question. “Do I look like a maiden?” He asked as Amami stepped closer to take a better look. 

Upon closer inspection, he did think the creature looked like a woman. The features that were not obscured by the cloth seemed feminine enough, and Amami could see its long black hair floating in the water. “Are you one?”

The creature chuckled. “I am male.” He said, pulling himself out of the water to reveal his bare chest. Amami raised his eyebrows in surprise, and kneeled near the lake to look at the merman, who slowly swam his way to the margin, his arms - covered in white tattoos - resting on the grass right in front of the adventurer’s knees. Even with half of his face obscured, Amami could tell he was rather beautiful. His eyes were yellow, and they seemed to draw him in; He had to force himself to look away when the creature spoke up again. “What is your name?”

“Rantaro Amami,” He answered. Despite the legends, the other didn’t seem threatening. “Do you have a name too?”

The merman nodded. “Korekiyo.” He said, looking behind Amami at the tent he had put up earlier and blurting out a question. “Tell me, Amami... why do humans sleep in those things?”

Amami looked behind himself to see what Korekiyo was talking about, and laughed carelessly before replying. “Oh, tents? I guess it’s more comfortable for us, plus the tent protects us from the rain and wind, and keeps us warm.” Upon being reminded of his tent, the adventurer’s body seemed to be reminded of his own tiredness, which had been momentarially forgotten, likely due to shock. He yawned, then rubbed his eyes and gave Korekiyo an easygoing smile as the other watched, seemingly fascinated. “Sorry, I’m really tired. Been walking the whole day.”

Korekiyo raised an eyebrow. “You are lost.”

“No!” His first reaction was to deny it, not wanting to put himself in a vulnerable position, but it hadn’t been a question in the first place. “Okay, maybe I am. But I’ll find my way back, I always do.”

“You seem confident.” The merman pointed out, cocking his head to the side.

Amami nodded. “I’ve been doing this for years. I’m used to getting lost,” He smiled. “But this is my first time meeting a merman. I didn’t think you guys were real. But I guess I’m not the first human you’ve met, huh?”

“You are correct,” Korekiyo said.

“Oh?”

“I like to observe humans,” He confessed, watching Amami like a hawk watches its prey. “Some of them find their way here sometimes. I believe your species is very interesting to watch.”

Amami laughed with a hint of awkwardness. “Interesting?”

“Yes,” The merman said. “We are different, yet very similar, yes? Humans are beautiful creatures, from the way they walk to the things they talk about, I have learned many valuable things from observing them.” His eyes never left Amami’s face as he spoke, but the adventurer avoided them.

“I see…” Amami said. “And do you talk to humans often?”

Korekiyo chuckled. “Not often, no. I prefer to observe them.”

“And yet, you are talking to me.”

“Yes.”

There was a pause, in which they stared at each other's eyes in silence until Amami shook his head and broke it. “Why?”

In the water, the merman slowly started swinging his tail. “Because you seem… interesting.”

The answer felt suspicious, and it earned a chuckle from the human. “Interesting? What makes me different from the other humans you’ve seen?” He asked, frowning at the creature, but Korekiyo simply pushed himself a bit more out of the water, gracefully balancing his weight on his arms.

“I can’t tell.” He lowered his voice, leaning his weight into the grass under his hands to get closer to Amami's face. “You seem different, but I can’t tell how. I feel like there is something drawing me to you, yes?”

Before he knew what he was doing, Amami nodded. He had been feeling the same since his eyes had met the merman’s for the first time.

“Humans are fascinating,” Korekiyo continued. “But they are still so very naive. It is very easy to draw them in, yes?”

Amami nodded again, barely listening to what he was agreeing to. He felt himself being drawn into those eyes again, but this time he didn't want to break the spell. 

Korekiyo's face was getting closer and closer, the adventurer’s eyes fluttered shut, and seconds later he felt the cold, wet touch of the merman's lips on his.

Amami sighed into the kiss and opened his mouth for Korekiyo’s tongue. Their kisses were slow and wet and Amami could feel the other’s sharp teeth, but that didn’t scare him; Korekiyo was being so careful, Amami didn’t believe the merman would intentionally hurt him... or perhaps he had had the fear enchanted out of him, but Korekiyo’s tongue pressing against his didn’t give him any time to think about it. His entire body relaxed as he gave in to the merman's ministrations, the only things supporting his weight were the creature's strong arms as his hands gently cradled Amami's face. It felt so good to be able to relax and let someone else take care of him after such a long day...

He didn’t know for how long they kissed, but Amami’s eyes felt incredibly heavy when they finally broke the kiss. Korekiyo’s face was still close, but as curious as Amami was to see his uncovered face, his eyes wouldn’t focus.

“You said you were tired,” He heard the merman’s voice and opened his eyes in an attempt to look at him, only for them to flutter closed once again before they could focus. He tried to speak, but only a grunt came out. “It’s alright.” Amami felt a hand on the back oh his head, the hair on the nape of his neck slowly being stroked, and he leaned in to rest his head on Korekiyo’s bare shoulder once he felt the merman's other arm around his own shoulders, holding him close.

Amami relaxed into the feeling of being held, feeling his body being lowered down as Korekiyo slowly lowered himself back into the water. Something in his mind told him this could be dangerous, but Amami felt too tired to fight. He felt the water touching the tips of his hair, and was unable to hold into consciousness any longer.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, the ending is supposed to be ambiguous! I might write a follow up story, or even turn this into a series, but I'm not sure yet. I quite like the way this turned out.
> 
> Don't forget to comment and let me know what you think!! Also please let me know if you find any typos or mistakes, lol.


End file.
